The field of English language communication competence learning and acquisition has been revolutionized by the increasing development of technology. The application of social media has now been popular inside and outside of the English language classrooms. The development of technology in the past fifty years, the more recent mobile devices and the Web 2.0 technology have provided numerous opportunities for its use in improving English communication competence. TikTok, one of the popular social media platforms among Chinese international undergraduate students, is now playing an interesting role in their English communication competence learning during Covid-19 pandemic because TikTok supplies English videos with popular topics among youngsters. However, very few studies have been conducted on the utilization of TikTok on EFL undergraduate students' English communication competence. Therefore, this paper aims to explore the potential on the utilization of TikTok and how it impacts on English language communication competence acquisition among Chinese international undergraduate students by reviewing previous and recent studies focusing on TikTok as well as other social medias such as Facebook, YouTube, WeChat and so on. It is important to note that even though previous relevant studies have showcased the positive effects of using social media as learning aids in English language communication acquisition, very few literatures having been published focusing on the utilization of TikTok in English language communication acquisition. The expected findings of this paper could reveal the potential of using TikTok for international undergraduate Chinese students out of EFL classroom in improving their English Communication Competence and for increasing their interests of speaking English. The researchers showcase critical views, recommendations, as well as implications for the utilization of TikTok in the field of English language communication competence acquisition among EFL undergraduate students.

AimsThis study aims to present an in-depth review of the available literature on the effect of core training on skill-related physical fitness performance among soccer players, as well as to offer suggestions for researchers and coaches.MethodsThe data in this study were presented based on the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guideline. Using scientific databases and web search engines including Scopus, Ebscohost, Web of Science, PubMed, and Google Scholar, researchers collected studies from the published literature. Only 26 of the 84 articles satisfied all the inclusion criteria and were thus included in the systematic review. The quality of each study was determined using the PEDro scale. The scores for 26 studies range between three and six.ResultsCore training can improve soccer players' skill-related physical fitness, including their power, speed, balance, and agility.ConclusionThe core is the anatomic and functional center of the body as well as its “engine.” All movements emanate from the center of the body and are transmitted to the extremities. The core muscles differ from the limb muscles because they frequently cocontract, thus making the torso hard to the point whereby all the muscles work together to become synergists. Theoretically, a strong core permits the passage of force from the lower body to the upper body with minimal energy loss in the torso. Based on the 26 studies, this review suggests that core training should be incorporated into the daily training sessions of soccer players, with a minimum frequency and length of 15 min per training session, twice per week, for 4 weeks.Systematic review registrationhttps://inplasy.com, identifier INPLASY202290045.

In the last 19 years (2003–2021), research on genre-based approaches (GBAs) to writing pedagogy has been accumulating in the fields of English as a second language (ESL) and English as a foreign language (EFL). This review mapped existing literature to identify research trends and provide a research agenda for future GBAs. This study employed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines and identified 52 published articles and 2 unpublished doctoral theses via a structured keyword search on Web of Science, Scopus, ERIC, Google Scholar, and ProQuest in the fields of teaching English to speakers of other languages, language learning, and education. The results show that GBA is now widely used in teaching English academic writing to ESL/EFL tertiary/graduate students. The main research findings include: (1) the top five countries in the number of paper publications are China (i.e., five), the United States (i.e., five), Japan (e.g., 4), Thailand (e.g., four), and Sweden (e.g., four); (2) the top four authors in the number of paper publications are Hyland (i.e., two), Lu (i.e., two), Negretti (i.e., two), and Pineh (i.e., two); and (3) the top three most strengthen keywords are writing pedagogy, genre-based approach, and English for academic purpose. This study also discusses the theoretical and practical implications.

A limited number of studies focus on the effect of core training on basketball players’ athletic performance and skills. This systematic reviewaimed to comprehensively and critically review the available studies in the literature that investigate the impact of core training on basketball players’ physical and skill performance, and then offer valuable recommendations for both coaches and researchers. Thedata collection, selection, and analysis adhered to the PRISMA protocol. English databases, including Ebscohost, Scopus, PubMed, Web of Science, and Google Scholar,were searched until September 2022. A total of eight articles were included, with four studies comparing the effects of core training versus traditional strength training or usual basketball training. All studies investigated the impact of core training on athletic performance. The findings revealed that core training can help players improve their overall athletic and skill performance, particularly in the areas of strength, sprinting,jumping, balance, agility, shooting, dribbling, passing, rebounding, and stepping. In addition, core training, particularly on unstable surfaces,as well as combining static and dynamic core training,improvebasketball players’ athletic and skill performance. Despite the relativelylittle evidence demonstrating the effect of core training on endurance, flexibility, and defensive skills, this review demonstrates that it should be incorporated into basketball training sessions.

The field of language learning and English literacy education has been revolutionized by increasingly developing technology. Innovative and digital literacies have been given birth to English literacy education in the digital arena. Being accessible to the online network website helps expand the production and consumption of international digital citizens. With the access to the internet, these new products and consumption of popular culture have enabled the recent birth of innovative forms of English literacy in English as a foreign language (EFL) settings for tertiary level students as this cohort of students are digital generations who spend lots of time online. So numerous English educators and linguists have turned their attention to the significance of these internet cultures pertinent to English literacy education. The most popular culture being studied by literacy scholars is online fan-fiction in English literacy education. This conceptual paper aims to explore the potential of the utilization of online fanfiction and how it impacts English literacy education in EFL settings and provide the teaching instructions of using online fan-fiction for EFL learners in virtual English literacy classrooms during the pandemic of Covid-19.

Generation Z (Gen Z) consumers account for an increasing proportion of the food market. The aim of this study took lamb shashliks as an example and developed novel products from the perspective of cooking methods in order to develop a traditional food suitable for Gen Z consumers. The sensory characterization of electric heating air (EH), microwave heating (MH), air frying (AF), and control (traditional burning charcoal (BC) of lamb shashliks) was performed using the CATA methodology with 120 Gen Z consumers as assessors. A 9-point hedonic scale was used to evaluate Gen Z consumers’ preferences for the cooking method, as well as a CATA ballot with 46 attributes which described the sensory characteristics of lamb shashliks. The machine learning algorithms were used to identify consumer preferences for different cooking methods of lamb shashliks as a function of sensory attributes and assessed the relationship between products and attributes present in the perceptual map for the degree of association. Meanwhile, sensory attributes as important variables play a relatively more important role in each cooking method. The most important variables for sensory attributes of lamb shashliks using BC are char-grilled aroma and smoky flavor. Similarly, the most important variables for AF samples are butter aroma, intensity aroma, and intensity aftertaste, the most important variables for EH samples are dry texture and hard texture, and the most important variables for MH samples are light color regarding external appearance and lumpy on chewing texture. The interviews were conducted with Gen Z consumers to investigate why they prefer innovative products—AF. Grounded theory and the social network analysis (SNA) method were utilized to explore why consumers chose AF, demonstrating that Gen Z consumers who had previously tasted AF lamb shashliks could easily perceive the buttery aroma. This study provides a theoretical and practical basis for developing lamb shashliks tailored to Gen Z consumers.

Since establishing the Silk Road initiatives, increasing numbers of Chinese students are going to Malaysia to pursue their postgraduate degrees. As the largest group of international students, numerous research studies have reported that Chinese international postgraduate students face language obstacles in English language communication during their overseas studies in English-medium instruction (EMI) campuses. This qualitative case study supplies in-depth insight into different adaptation strategies utilized by international Chinese postgraduate students to overcome challenges faced in academic communication practices. Qualitative data were collected from three sessions of semistructured in-depth interviews. Informants were six international Chinese mainland postgraduate students (i.e., three masters’ students, three Ph.D. students) from diverse disciplines. The interviews allowed the participants to share their own experiences of utilizing effective adaptation strategies to overcome challenges faced in academic English communication practices in their studies. Their adaptation strategies include enhancing their oral English language communication competence and academic achievement. Thus, this study contributes by providing suggestions to Malaysian higher education institutions seeking measures to improve international service quality.

The practice of review writing is an essential component of postgraduate students’ academic studies for graduation requirement and especially for those who are undergoing their postgraduate studies by theses by publication. However, very few studies have focused on review genres. In this review, the researchers would like to offer an overview of different types of review articles and identify the trend in the development of the review article genre. The researchers of this study employed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. They identified the published articles specific to the review genres via a structured keyword search in Web of Science, Scopus, and Google Scholar (from the years 2019–2022). A mixed analysis approach (e.g., qualitative analysis combined with quantitative analysis) was conducted to further examine the selected articles using the data visualization software CiteSpace. The results showcased that there were currently a limited number of review types in social science disciplines. The researchers call for more effort to discover new models for writing review genres in the EFL/ESL context. This study also discusses the theoretical and practical implications.